I just wanted to pop into your inbox to say hello and to say that I hope you are doing well. I’m hoping I can keep you inspired with a few art photos and some random thoughts on my favorite words. I know that now, days can be long and nights even longer as we isolate ourselves from the world and harbor our worries at night. Let’s keep sharing!

I keep an ongoing list of topics I want to include here on the blog. They are just ideas that randomly come to mind. I had one idea on the list that I called “3 Great and Infrequently Used Words”. And although I never thought I would post it in the context of what is going on in the world today, I realized that maybe this post is especially relevant right now.

Sometimes words are just great words and maybe we all have our personal favorites. I have 3 words that I think are either underused, misused or misunderstood but are my very special favorites.

First (but in no particular order) on my list:

********** serendipity ***********

I love this word. I love its meaning and I even love the way it sounds. Here is the formal definition:

/ˌserənˈdipədē/

“the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way."

For me serendipity only occurs if you are aware that events happen in your life for a reason.

At the risk of waxing philosophical I mean those moments when you question (and should) why you had contact with such and such a person at a given time in your life. Why such and such a thing happened at this exact time when you were just trying to sort out exactly what that answer was!

That’s serendipity for me and it is not just about coincidences.

******* Wanderlust ******

Next on my favorite words list of 3. There was a series on Netflix named Wanderlust. I loved the series, but I never knew what the word wanderlust meant until the end of the series. I looked it up:

\ ˈwän-dər-ˌləst  \

“strong longing for or impulse toward wandering”

Other sources give the definition as just a longing for travel, but I like to think it is more a longing for “wandering”.

Wandering - “a movement away from the proper, normal, or usual course or place”.

Wanderlust is a longing or impulse for WANDERING. Don’t you love that?

Just wandering, wherever it is, wherever you want.

Artists often wander, or at least, we all want to wander.

Or, maybe, wandering is one of my new, favorite words. ; )

Maybe, it’s just a good time in our new reality to take advantage of these these impulses!

And my third favorite, and so relevant to today’s reality!

******** kindness *******

On my previous blog (no longer there- sorry) I did a very long piece in 2018 on the meaning of kindness, the certainty of the definition, and the sometimes lack of it in day to day dealings:

/ˈkīn(d)nəs/

the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate

Too simple a definition. To me kindness is about having empathy, understanding why people feel what they feel (even if you do not) and doing some small act towards that.

It is about unselfishness in the true sense of the word unselfishness. It is about putting someone else’s needs, before your own, because you are in a good place in your life to do so.

Let’s be kind to one another, above all else, in this new reality.

Let me know how you are hanging in there and for that matter, I’d love to hear any of your favorite words. We can make our own dictionary! ; )